How is this helping? I hate to see this. Randall Terry, the former head of Operation Rescue whose primary talent of late seems to be snaring headlines, has just released a video instructing people how to destroy a Koran and gets lots o’ press while doing it.

Now normally if I reference a video I’d just post it but there’s no way I want it on this site.

He says: “To my fellow Tea Party activists, listen to me: you’re about to see instructions on how to get into real battles, not just in front of our computers, not just blogging, but to go to the public square like Samuel Adams and like other great patriots did…The truth of the matter is, if you just do this, with a bold and stout heart, with just you and one other person, just the two of you, chances are you’re going to get an enormous amount of coverage, and your voice will be heard by thousands, maybe tens or hundreds of thousands.”

Terry says he’s asking people to download Islamic texts and publicly destroy them in order to increase dialogue and “raise discussion” or something ridiculous like that. This seems more likely to simply get publicity for Terry. Sadly, it’s not even original to Terry. Last year, Terry created a video urging people to download posters of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and burn them in effigy in order to get press coverage.

I just wonder what Terry’s going to destroy next. Perhaps the last vestiges of his reputation.

I thought we were taught that by that “pastor” down in Florida. You just light a BIG fire.

Posted by Don Schenk on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 2:11 PM (EST):

The Bible does NOT say that the world was created in six days; instead, it offers two different stories of creation (in Genesis chapters one and two) that if the original editors meant for us to take literally they would have smoothed out.
As for the estimate that the earth is 6,000 years old, it was first made by a Protestant.

Posted by michael konieczny on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 1:55 PM (EST):

hahahhaa. They are not brothers. you are a rip. As Catholics we hope for heaven, we don’t expect it. we pray for God’s mercy and know that we don’t earn it. or deserve it. But we trust God and know, through His Son Jesus, that He wants to forgive and that He does love us. As for where we end up, to some extent, it depends on where we want to end up. and do we behave and believe in a manner that reflects that desire. You go a head and yuck it imagining how funny you think you. You won’t be laughing after your last breath. You might just be one of those young boys promised to a muslim suicide bomber. and i don’t think they are just there to serve up cold raisins.

Posted by Power Ranger on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 10:29 AM (EST):

Mohammed and Jesus are brothers. Mo refused to change and stayed a bad boy. Jesus mellowed down with age and does not do physical violence anymore.
Wouldn’t it be funny that you all believers in Mo or Jesus end up in hell after you die instead of heaven like you anticipated? Or don’t even go anywhere? Or you get to a place where there a lot of child molesters. LOL ha ha

Posted by Robert Laity on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 3:47 AM (EST):

Islam cannot ever be a “True religion”. Ir has to be a “Religion” in the first place. Jews and Christians worship the same God. That God is not “allah”,“buddha”,“Zeus”,“satan” or the “mighty dollar”.

Posted by Robert Laity on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 3:42 AM (EST):

Islam=a horde of Barbarians.

Posted by Robert Laity on Thursday, Sep, 30, 2010 3:41 AM (EST):

Islam has never been a “Religion”. Calling a horde of babrabrians who want to “KILL INFIDELS” a “religion” is like calling Hemlock a health food.

Posted by Henry on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 8:21 PM (EST):

the koran is such rubbish…its not even worth the effort.
Live by the sword die by it…muslims have been killing each
other for centuries…over what.. because moham said so..pretty dumb.

If by “go crazy with it” you mean really understand and try to live the gospel i think the product is a Saint. You are advising against that? Again, mr. power ranger, you don’t know what you are talking about. The muslim who “goes crazy with it” is a suicide bomber. And you will be there to “keep a check on it.” How? you have no barings. you thoughts and opinions are as grounded as a helium balloon in gale force winds.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 5:12 PM (EST):

Mike,

Follow the gospel. They’re good for you. Just make sure you don’t go crazy with it. We’ll be here to keep a check on it.

Mr. Power ranger,
everytime you open your typing mouth you let out more nonsense. Are you sure you are a power ranger? you sound more like a parot that has been left in front of the television for the past 20 years.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 3:02 PM (EST):

Christianity is just one of many religions. Of them all, I find Islam the worst. Muslims need to settle the issue that they are not the only ones in this world. Christians have already settled this issue. They are not physically violent anymore. They used to be.

Posted by Gary Boisclair on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 2:38 PM (EST):

Thomas writes: “how do we defeat Satan? Faith and trust in Jesus Christ.” Ask the Navy of the Holy League how they defeated the Muslim navy at Lepanto on October 7th, 1571. Through prayer? Yes. Through Mary’s intercession? (Yes-the Admiral Andrea Doria had with him an image of our Lady of Guadalupe with him on his ship!) Prayer, Mary’s intercession. And that’s all, right? ...umm…Let’s not forget the tens of thousands of Christians who fought that day, the almost 5000 Christians who died a bloody death at the hands of the Muslims. Prayer? Yes. Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ? The Rosary? Not a question. Direct conflict with the enemies of Christianity? THAT TOO. Our faith, if it does not lead us to direct, practical conflict with Satan’s inroads in our society, is mere chimera. Through peaceful opposition, let’s be willing to suffer for Christ. Randall Terry just might be on the right path.

Mr. Power Ranger,
You are not arguing. You try to refute my logic with a change of subject. But you do seem to have a talent for racking up examples of statements and opinions that violate most of the criteria for rational thought all together. If you can’t distinguish how NOT similar Jesus is from Mohammed then you have other issues to resolve before you can even begin to part a truth from a fiction. As for your other tangents into minutia and snowball tactics to avoid the subject at hand, they don’t merit attention. In fact, it is clear now that you are not really asking your questions in pursuit of the truth, you are merely looking for whatever scrapes you can find on the floor to justify your opinion. Don’t try that logic with the physical sciences, as you do with the metaphysical, or philosophical. They are not as tolerant of ignorance. And science is a tool, not a final arbiter of truth.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 2:14 PM (EST):

Mike,
Your logic is not good enough to prove me wrong. Here’s a better logic to prove you wrong.

1) Extra ordinary human being does not mean s/he is god. Simply put, no human being is god or son of god. I believe Jesus is an extra ordinary human being but he is not god or son of god. There is no bad logic is the above statement. Your reasoning to prove my previous statement wrong is faulty.

2) The bible says the world was created in 6 days and that it is about 6000 years old and that all human beings descended from Adam and Eve. There is overwhelming scientific evidence against this. If you still believe the world is 6000 years old then I am not going to argue with your anymore.

And, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed are not the same. They are similar. They all came about to give meaning to the purpose of human existence. Their teaching can bring peace to one’s life but they do not explain the universe. Science is the only candidate there is to claim the mantle of truth.

My proof and my reasoning are brief, but not inadequit to reprove your arguement. Islam makes several other claims in more detail that are not just in contradiction to Christianity but self contradictory. You also make several other statements that, as you elude to yourself, If they are not lying, there is some other problem in there somewhere. You are correct, there is some other problem in there.

Are you familiar with the law of non contradiction? If you consider Jesus, buddha, and Mohammed to all stand equal then you don’t know much about any of them. Christ said He is God. that is either true or it is false. if you say He is an extraordiary human being and mean by that a great example of moral character, but don’t believe He is God as He claimed, then your belief violates the law of non contradiction. your arguement and statement is bunk. start over. you can say Christ was a liar and a loon, that is your other option, but what evidence is there that He lied or was a loon? Mohammed was a mass murderer, rapist, etc. Budda said he had found the way, not that he was the way. Big differences here. your understanding of the claims of each Man are very superficial and poorly informed. your reasoning fails at the out set. One of these Guys is not like the others.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 12:38 PM (EST):

Mike,

Your proof is not very good enough.

Islam also says there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger. Both Islam and Christianity are lying when they say theirs is the only way out. If they are not lying, there’s some other problem in there somewhere.

Religion is/can be a force for good but being hardcore is destructive. Religion can bring peace to a person’s life but can also lead to never ending violence in society.

I consider Jesus/Buddha/Mohammed as extraordinary human beings like Newton/Einstein/Galileo but I do not believe they have any link to god.

If you are born in America, you are most likely to be a Christian. If you are born in India, you are most likely to be a Hindu. If you are born in the Middle East, you are most likely to be Christian. See, how easy this is.

Three tools. Faith, Reason, Authority. Faith, what do or should I believe in? Reason, how do I understand what I believe, Authority, who do i turn to to guide my faith and understanding. these three tools are much richer then i describe them here.
When we genuinly ask a question like the one you just asked and we can get ourselves out of our own way, we can use those tools to see that Christianity is true where others fall sort or lead asunder. Also, Christ himself said He is the Truth, The Light, and The Way. as Lewis said, and reason and logic will comfirm, Christ was either being truthful, or dishonest when he made that claim. When we do the homework and discover that Christ was straight up with that claim it becomes clear that anything that contradicts what He says is ither false or needs to be reconciled by some other understanding. Islam makes claims directly contradictory to Christ. The jews stop short, the mormons take away and add and in doing so contradict what Christ says. The same sort of falts can be found in Hindu, buddist, etc etc. For each of these inquiries, there are volumes of reasoned arguements over the past 2000 years. it is hard to get your bearings unless you stand on solid ground. your question, if it is genuine, is on the right track.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 11:13 AM (EST):

Mike,

How do you prove Christianity is true and Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jainism, Mormonism religions are false?

Mr. Power Ranger,
You have no idea what you are talking about. There is such a thing as true and false. It just takes more care to discern it then you have so far applied to the subject.

Posted by Power Ranger on Wednesday, Sep, 29, 2010 10:48 AM (EST):

There is no such thing as your religion is false and my religion is true. All religions are false. It is perfectly possible to lead a successful/productive/meaningful life without religion.

Islam is a bad son. Christianity used to be a bad son too but overtime has matured. We need to work to make this bad boy (Islam) to grow up.

But the irony is: Because Islam is an angry bad boy, nobody tries to mess with him. Catholicism has matured and the western seculars love to pee (DaVinci Code, pedophile priests, whether the Pope knew about the abuses, etc) on its wall.

Posted by Robert Laity on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 9:29 PM (EST):

Like the Satanic Bible,the “Satanic Verses” arose from the firey pit and THAT is where they belong. Islam is NOT a “Religion” and contradicts Judaism and Christianity:
http://www.nmatv.com/video/618/What-Islam-Is-Not
http://www.allaboutreligion.org/origin-of-islam.htm

Obama is a Muslim who mocks the Bible and is leading us into Dar-el-Salaam. Banning Islam is necessary for societal self-defense,which is a precept accepted by the Catholic Church. Contrary to what Obama said,we ARE “at war with Islam”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-V_ilJu0w&NR=1
http://www.islam-watch.org/ThomasJefferson/Founding_Fathers_Fight_Islam.htm
http://www.flix.co.il/tapuz/showVideo.asp?m=2449529

Posted by Jay Smith on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 8:01 PM (EST):

Amen michael konieczny

Posted by michael konieczny on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 2:13 PM (EST):

Mr. Power Ranger,
The radicals in the Catholic Church include Padre Pio, Mary, st. francis, Pope John Paul II, etc. Oh, and Jesus Himself. Would you care to rephrase that statement? :)

Posted by Power Ranger on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 1:55 PM (EST):

Let’s send all radicals from ALL religions to a isolated island and let them fight each other to death.

Posted by michael konieczny on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 12:57 PM (EST):

Spot on my friend. Spot on.

Posted by Thomas on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 12:54 PM (EST):

Michael—I know very well the terrain of the conspiracy theorist. I do not dismiss them. I granted there are many facts there. I have read much on it. The point is that all of this is the work of Satan. If these are not the end times—we are close. All of this has been foretold and in some sense is inevitable. In the end, I choose to believe and have faith in Christ. The particulars don’t really matter: UN, WTO, Obama, Bilderbergers, etc. = Satan. How do we defeat Satan? Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ.

Posted by michael konieczny on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 12:25 PM (EST):

Thomas,
Your assessment of Islam and what it wants is right on. Your advice to focus on Christ is right on. I think you have fallen into the knee jerk conspiracy response club though. If you are going to bother concerning yourself with islam, which you seem to do, you might just as well turn your attention to the people who fund them. The people who mess with their affairs by war or espionage for their own purposes should be of more concern. As far as the taboo subject of “conspiracy theories” goes, I don’t get the impression you understand what a conspiracy is. Most of the activities that I refer to when I suggest that the bankers and the boners and the CFR members are involved in are not secret at all. They are public record and easily illuminated. The events that you ridicule me for mentioning as evidence of their purpose by labeling them conspiracy theories is very well documented and substantiated. The people who were involved in the planning of the Federal Reserve did conspire to do so. Many of them have gloated about it. What they were doing was illegal. When any group of people get together to do something illegal and in secret, out of public view, it is a conspiracy. So your criticism is either ignorant of the facts or motivated by the same desire to avoid the facts that you see when ever you question a politician like Clinton or Obama when you press them for substance. They wiggle, waggle, and start up with the name calling. They call you a truther, a birther, a conspiracy theorist, an extremist, etc. But they will never show you proof, answer your question, or simply show you a birth certificate. Weather you know it or not, you are doing the same thing in this respect when you dismiss my suggestion that the villain behind the villain is more domestic then foreign. The people I am pointing the finger at have written biographies, white papers, public statements, and all sorts of “confessions” of doing exactly what I am suggesting. Most of it is hardly conspiracy at this point. It is all hidden in plain view.

Posted by Thomas on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 11:47 AM (EST):

Michael - the problem with conspiracy theories is that the minute you believe them, you have been defeated. All of these things have pieces of truth to them. But, the only real truth is Christ. Yes, Satan and his agents influence leaders, organizations, etc. They (the banks, wall street, etc.) are of the world. They are his - and sadly so are most governments. The Obama Administration is now pro-Islam and anti-Christian. There is nothing new here. Call it what you will. The only real response is to dig even deeper into the faith and stand for something. The Islamic faith is a false religion with false idols and any peace treaty that includes them is a suicide pact. They will not be appeased, Rachel. They want nothing more than the total destruction of Christianity and the judeo-Christian culture. Read your bible. Look at what has happened in Isreal. Those who trade land for peace, end up with neither.

Posted by Rachel on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 11:27 AM (EST):

Of course, the oppression of Christians will continue, Jesus himself spoke of it (blessed are you, when you are persecuted for my name’s sake..). However, I still contend it is wrong for those of us on this side of the world to seek to specifically incite these radicals who will take their anger out on the innocent. I think Mr. Terry’s suggestions are actually cowardice masking as protest. It is easy for any of us here to download and burn a Koran, no one is likely to burn my Church or even arrest me, but I am sure that will happen somewhere else to someone else because of what is done here. I am not, would not be calling for silence but agreeing with Matthew that this ‘call to action’ does little good for anyone. Speaking the truth about the fallacies and evils of Islam is vitally important but choosing how you do it is more so.

Posted by michael konieczny on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 11:06 AM (EST):

Why would you focus any attention on the Koran???? How about burning the IRS code book? Or Protest the Federal Reserve cartel? Or burn the 911 Commission report. Our problem is domestic, not foreign. The real terrorists are in Washington DC and On Wall St. They often attend G8 summit meetings, Council on Foreign Relations meetings, And practice group _______ (fill in the blank with some sort of disgusting pervert behavior) at Skull and Bones meetings or in Bohemian Grove and plan how you will be exterminated, directed, breed, neutered, etc behind closed doors. If you are going to burn the Koran, or run off chasing the Islamic issue, you might just as well concern yourself with Monday night football and the latest TV show drama. It doesn’t matter! Western Civilization is in Crisis on the inside. The threat is here. And the threat is funded by a banking practice that the reformation, (the disaster) un chained. Usury. The banking interests control the money. The governments are all in debt to the banks.

Posted by Don Schenk on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 10:26 AM (EST):

Of course it’s disreapectful and a poke-in-the-eye to peaceful Muslims to desecrate a Koran; but did you know that (according to CNN last May) in Afghanistan the U.S. military collects and burns Arabic-language Bibles? (And there was what the government there was about to do to an Afghani Catholic that they found with a Bible during the Bush Administration.)
I’m all for showing respect to other religions; it’s just that I wish they showed a little less disrespect to ours.

Posted by Thomas on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 9:42 AM (EST):

While I don’t support Terry or his actions, I think it is wrong to insinuate that “demonstrations” or “revolts” here are the cause of mistreatment of Christians elsewhere. These Islamic holy warriors will attack Christians for any reason or none at all. That is what the Koran teaches them to do. Even, if you are right that a protest may be pretext for an attack elsewhere, that should not stop us from speaking the truth about our faith and pointing out the errors in the Islamic faith. We must protect the bible and our constitution at ALL costs. At the very least, to appease them is cultural suicide. Worse it may mean the end of our system of laws, justice and the very freedom of religion we take for granted being silent. Look at what is happening now in Michigan, for example.

Posted by Rachel on Tuesday, Sep, 28, 2010 9:14 AM (EST):

My continued frustration with this sort of ‘revolt’ or ‘demonstration’ is that those who support it - including Mr. Terry - refuse to see how it will affect Christians in Middle Eastern countries. They are struggling to survive every day in countries where being a Christian is outlawed. These families are heroic for what they endure for Christ. But actions like this put great big bulls-eyes on their backs - often without them even knowing why.

We saw some of this retaliation with the recent Florida debacle, when churches and individuals were attacked by Islamic extremists. It is one thing to face martyrdom on your own, it is an entirely different situation when you are martyred for the Faith by the idiotic actions of others a world away.

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Matthew Archbold

Matt Archbold graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 1995. He is a former journalist who left the newspaper business to raise his five children. He writes for the Creative Minority Report.